5 TIPS – Resignation Don’ts!

You've handed in your resignation. You've got a great new job. In fact it looks like your perfect role. You are delighted to be leaving this *!%* place and are now counting the days.

Well, actually, you are even counting in hours!

It is really easy to get completely caught up in the joy of the new. To give more thought to your next role than the one you are just about to leave and to let your previously hidden dislike of certain aspects, and specific people, to become more than a little apparent.

Handling your resignation with grace can be a minefield!

Here are our top 5 tips of resignation don'ts;

1.DON’T take unnecessary time off or avoid showing up during your last weeks at your soon-to-be old job. Honour the terms of your contract, work your set hours and continue to show up on time throughout your resignation period. It is easy to get de-mob happy but there are two things to keep in mind. You don’t know when your new employer is going to take references AND (particularly if you are staying in the same industry / local area) you might work with some of these people again.

2.DON’T start collecting the CVs of all your current colleagues.There may well be an employee introduction scheme at your new company and you may well get rewarded handsomely for each successful introduction. You might also really enjoy working with your favourite colleagues and wish they were coming with you. Until you know that your new company really is paradise lost, keep thoughts of enticing them to join you under your hat.

3.DON’T hinder morale.Talking about your new job and how perfect it will be, whilst recounting incidents and events less pleasant from your current employer can start to take its toll on all around you. They don’t have a new job to go to and making them wish they did is not helpful to them or the company. Try to enjoy your final moments and go out on a high. Remember that people remember you for how you made them feel. Be remembered as someone who made them feel good!

4.DON’T use your resignation period as the perfect opportunity to tell your boss what you really think of them or their lousy job.We know that your new pasture has better XYZ and if the old job were perfect for you, then you would be staying put. But if things were not serious enough to mention when you were staying, there is little benefit in mentioning them now you are going. Ask yourself ‘is what I am about to say going to bring about positive change?’ If the answer is ‘no’ then leave it unsaid. You can always vent to your houseplant or a cushion later, when you get home

5.DON’T leave with anything you didn’t personally buy or physically arrive with.Names, addresses, price lists and files are all company property. Much as knowing these things might enhance your ability to shine during the first days of your new job, don’t be tempted to compromise your integrity. Disclosing insider information might seem like a shortcut to an answer your new company is seeking, but it is intellectual property theft and it might get you fired from your new job before you’ve even started. Disclosing secrets says the wrong thing about you and tells a story you don't want told about your morals and ethics. Leave classified information where it belongs

If you would like help developing your own exit strategy please email me

Julie is the Lead Career Coach at Churchill Brook. She works with clients who are frustrated by their career success (or lack of it) and her approach is that of part coach, part mentor and part consultant. She is available to work with limited clients on a one-to-one basis or via our popular career change group classes (check out ‘what we offer’).

Before joining Churchill Brook in 2009, she spent twelve years as an international headhunter, where she successfully helped her clients to recruit exceptional people. She is an expert at getting candidates noticed by companies and had one of the highest success ratios for CV submission to hire that we know of within the recruitment industry

Churchill Brook International Career Coaches lead career professionals to greater success and higher personal incomes through laser coaching, mentoring and personal branding. We teach you how to create your success and achieve your career dreams. To get your FREE eBOOK and career articles go to www.churchillbrook.co.uk

Hi Julie,
A really good article. So far, I have resigned from four jobs. and am glad to say that I didn’t commit any of the faux paus you mention. If I may add a final one point.

6 – Don’t bad mouth you employers after you have left either. What’s the point? All the above reasons apply to after you have left as well as to whilst you are leaving. Leave your past where it is, the past.

Thank you Kal. I was in a cafe recently and the two ‘servers’ were discussing a colleague who had resigned and then been absent. The girl was convinced she would be back and the boy was adamant that she wouldn’t. They were discussing the importance (or lack of) of working your notice and one told the other that a friend of a friend had a friend in HR, who had stated that you can’t give a bad reference, therefore what was the point of working notice. I asked them both what would happen if at some point in the future their now boss changed jobs and was the hiring manager of the new firm they were interviewing at … light bulb moments from them both.

It is a small small world, particularly if you are on a career path and sticking with one industry, or alternatively, you like to work locally and are staying within a geographic boundary. You will, without doubt, bump into the same people (or their friends) on your journey. Having a reputation for the right reasons can be the difference between the job you want and the only job you can get.